Shooting Blind
by Damlone
Summary: Nick and Judy have found their happy balance. Mates, friends, work and life balance in good balance. This is a story about their friends. A cheetah on SWAT, the textbook officer, needs a little help sorting out his homelife with a few misteps, a little miscommunication and little help from his friends. This is his story.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello there fellow readers! I'm brand new to this scene and have never written a fanfic in my entire life. I've never been a writer, only a reader. I stumbled on an author that inspired me, I told him about a story I was working on and he pushed me to put some of my work up here so here I go.

I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to ScaraMedn. He's my soundboard and also one of my beta readers. Practically everything in all my stories has some piece of him in it because he's just that great of a guy to always lend an ear and inspiration. Also, he makes me laugh so hard that sometimes I snort (don't judge, we've all been there).

Next is kt_valmiri for the edits and virtual hugs. Seriously, super huge thanks.

Blueberryandhoney as my other Beta reader, also super huge thanks.

These guys all have their own stuff as well. If you haven't read anything by them I highly suggest you do. You will not be disappointed. Now... without further blabbing by me... ENJOY!

* * *

Pix had just gotten done with his training shift and the cheetah was tired. Staring down a sniper scope for hours at a time at the range was a strain on his eyes. He was part of Precinct One S.W.A.T. and took his job seriously; according to some he was a bit too serious. Seemed to others all he did was eat, drink, sleep and shoot. That wasn't completely true of course. He did like to work out and practice his paw to paw combat. He stepped into the shower stall at the ZPD and turned on the water not caring that it was cold at first, it felt good on his neck. He let the water flow ever him and relaxed as it steadily warmed and soaked through is fur. Even though he was a cheetah and his species preferred the dryer climate, Pix had always had a mild obsession with water and always enjoyed swimming. He washed himself with fur shampoo and then grabbed his towel off the stall and made his way to the fur dryer to finish up. He dressed and glanced at his watch.

"Six thirty?" he mumbled to himself, "Great, I'm late."

He took out his phone and saw he had four missed calls and two texts. He groaned and opened the messages first already knowing he didn't want to read them as they were from his girlfriend Jessie.

 _Pix… Its5:45, I've been at the restaurant for a half hour. I thought you said that you'd be done early today because it was just training. Call me when you get this._

Pix looked at his phone and saw that the message was indeed sent at five forty five. He saw the next message was from five minutes ago.

 _Ok, you know what? I'm done, you don't answer your phone and you are always late or busy. See you around, Pix. Maybe you'll find a nice girl that doesn't mind someone that's always one step behind._

" _Wonderful_." He thought as he closed his eyes and then thumbed her number and called her. He wasn't actually expecting her to answer since he knew she wasn't exactly happy with him. So imagine his surprise when she picked up and even though she didn't say hello she was clearly on the other end of the line.

"…"

"WELL?!" she yelled, "What's your excuse this time? Huh? Bank robbery? Hostage situation? Shoot out at the fish market?"

"Um… Jess, look… I'm sorry I lost track of time at the range…"

"You lost track of time at the range," it was more of a statement than question, "How do you lose track of time when we've been planning this dinner for a week? Pix Fleetpaw you have absolutely no idea how important this was to me, do you?"

" _Important to her_." He thought about that for a moment. It was important to her, and if he was honest with himself he should not have forgotten. His life is pretty regimented. He got up at five thirty every day except Sunday or unless he got a call for work. He ate at the same time almost every day and even had dates on the calendar that he would stop by the pub and have a beer or two, unless there was a S.W.A.T. or ZPD outing. He stopped by the same coffee shop by six fifteen in the morning and always stopped back at the same coffee shop in the evening at seven if he was able. So how the hell couldn't he keep a dinner date? Especially since she was right, he did tell her it was just a training day today and he should have been out of the precinct by four thirty at the latest.

"Honey, I'm sorr…"

She purposely had waited until he started to speak before she cut him off with a growl, "Don't you 'honey' me, Pix. We're done. Don't call me, don't text me. My friends were right. You're never going to change."

She hung up and he sighed as he hung his head.

"You ok Morse?"

Pix inwardly groaned at the nickname. A turn of his head and a glance down showed him the ZPD's first red fox, Nick Wilde, leaning against the wall by the doorway to the locker room. His signature stance of paws casually tucked into his front pockets, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie a bit too loose around his collar for ZPD regulations always made Pix shake his head. Not because he was angry at him or thought he disrespected the uniform or his job, in fact he knew it was the exact opposite. The fox had breezed through the academy with flying colors, even being named valedictorian. Pix knew about his shady past as a hustler, but as far as he could tell Nick had never hurt anyone and, technically, never committed a crime. Plus, the todd was one of the few mammals that could make him genuinely laugh; he respected the fox and enjoyed his company.

Nick had given him the nickname, Morse, when Pix's S.W.A.T. unit was called into a shootout at a bank heist. The robbers were a pronghorn and an oryx. They pulled an audible and shot their way out of the back entrance, causing the ZPD officers to take cover. Pix saw them and dropped to all fours at a full sprint and tackled the oryx as Nick and Judy took down the pronghorn. Later, Nick had said, "You were so damn fast, Pix. It was like seeing an after image, you know? Like dots flashing by… like Morse Code!" Ever since then he had repeatedly called him Morse.

"Yes and no, Wilde," Pix said with another sigh.

"What's wrong big guy?" the fox asked as he sauntered over and stopped in front of the larger cheetah.

"Jessie just broke up with me. I'm sure you heard the conversation," Pix said glancing at his phone. "I forgot about our date tonight. It was really important to her and I kinda lost track of time. So yes, that sucks but at the same time I think it was coming to an end."

"You know if you ever want me to give you relationship advice all you have to do is ask right?" Nick offered sympathetically.

"Ha!"

"I'm serious, Morse. I'm great at relationships. Judy and I have been together for two years now haven't we?"

"And she still kicks your ass all over the place," the cheetah pointed out.

Nick scoffed. "I let her."

"Uh-huh."

Nick looked at the cheetah with his signature smirk on his muzzle. "Wanna bet?"

"No," Pix said with a laugh as he smiled at his vulpine friend. "But I think I'll just go and tell her what you said. Come on, let's go find her, I think she was talking to Ben when I came in."

Nick's eyes went wide and his ears fell straight back, "You wouldn't dare."

"Wanna bet?"

Sly smile in place Nick lazily mock saluted him with two digits on his right hand. "Touché salesman."

Head tilting to look at his friend, Pix asked, "By the way what are you two doing here still? Didn't your shift end at five?"

"We found Weaselton trying to pick a rhinos pocket on our way back in from patrol," Nick explained with a shrug. "So we brought him with us."

"Again?"

"Yup," Nick said popping the 'p'.

Pix shook his head ruefully. "He's like your adoptive older child that always gets in trouble."

"Ugh." The fox recoiled hard, a shudder of revulsion running through him from ears to tail. "How dare you."

Smiling Pix picked up his duffle and checked his side arm in his shoulder holster. "I suppose I'll head home and pick up some fish or something to have for dinner since I am now officially single."

"Wanna come with us? Judy and I are heading to the pub."

"Nah thanks. I'm just gonna grab a coffee and head home."

"Suit yourself. I'll walk with ya out to the front. I just came in here to grab my duffle," Nick said as he grabbed said item out his locker. "C'mon," he gestured and opened the door.

Pix followed, he and Nick chatting about how their day went and how boring their patrol was on the way to the front desk. Pix knew that the fox was trying to help him take his mind off of the conversation that he had just had but he couldn't help thinking he should feel guiltier. Surprisingly, he didn't feel all that bad. Walking by the door that led to the bullpen they could hear Judy laughing with Clawhouser. As they entered the front atrium and headed for the front desk, the grey bunny stopped talking to the portly cheetah and jumped to the floor before sprinting to Nick's open arms. She hit him like a grey and blue furry missile.

"O… M… GOODNESS!" Clawhouser squealed and took a picture of the couple with his phone.

"Ben!" Judy yelled. "What did I tell you about taking our picture and putting them on Furbook?"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the pudgy cheetah said as he quickly hid his phone. "You're both just so cu…" Judy glared at him. "Um… Adorable," he finished with a smile.

"We're heading out Spots," Nick said to the desk sergeant, "See you in the morning."

"Ok! Take care you two little lovebirds."

"Have a good night, Officer Clawhouser," Pix said with a chuckle and went to follow the bunny and fox.

"You too, Officer Fleetpaw," returned the felid with a wave.

Pix followed Judy and Nick out of the precinct front doors and smiled at the sight of them holding paws as they argued back and forth.

"Carrots, you know that I'm the best at making mammals laugh."

"Ha! As if, Slick Nick. You have, like, four jokes that you just reuse."

The fox leaned away from his mate and placed his right paw over his heart. "Madame, you wound me," he declared while gazing at her in an over dramatic fashion. "I have _five_ jokes, thank you very much! Besides, Fluff, you have zero jokes."

Judy lightly socked him in the left arm and then leaned her head on his shoulder. "I have jokes, I just don't say them."

"Riiiight." Nick looked back at the cheetah that was a few paces behind. "You sure you don't want to come with us, Morse? Wolford and Fangmeyer are going to be there. Oh, and I think that Jackie will be there too. She's a cute cheetah, has her spots in all the right places," he said waggling his eyebrows and getting another fist to his arm. "What? He just got dumped."

Drawing his paw down his muzzle, Pix glared at the fox. "Godsdamnit, Nick."

"Oh Pix, I'm sorry," Judy said turning and looking up at him. "You two were together for a while right?"

"Six months."

"Ouch," Nick said and got a glare from Judy.

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?" she asked.

Pix sighed. "I lost track of time at the range and missed our dinner date."

"That's a pretty stupid reason to dump you."

"This was the fifth time," he said and Judy looked at him with wide eyes. "In a row."

"Well…" she said. "Um… Still, you two could have worked it out… I think." Then she smiled and asked, "You sure you don't want to come with us? Like Nick said, Jackie will probably be there and she's pretty."

"Yes, she is. She's gorgeous." Pix looked right at the fox and poined a clawed digit at him. "And if you tell her I said that I'll hold you down and shave your tail," he declared, causing the fox to gulp. "But I think I just need to figure some stuff out. I'll see you two later. Be safe and say 'hi' to Wolford for me, he's supposed to be with us tomorrow for CQB training." With that he nodded at the two smaller mammals and headed towards his favorite coffee shop only a few blocks away.

"I hope he'll be ok," Judy said as she watched the larger predator walk away with his duffle over his left shoulder.

"C'mon Fluff, he's a big boy and I'm sure he'll be fine. Now, tell me if you've heard this one before…"

Judy groaned as they headed toward the pub.

Pix looked at his watch again and saw that it was almost seven on the nose. " _Right on time,"_ he thought as he opened the door and walked into the shop. As always he glanced around and looked for a seat in the back. The coffee shop wasn't that big, it could only fit about thirty or forty small to medium sized mammals, and that was fine by him. He'd never really liked crowds. He found a single seat table in the back right corner and headed over to drop off his duffle.

He'd been coming here for eight years. When he first joined the force, he was a regular beat cop and, as such, did as many patrols on foot as in a cruiser. He found this place on one of his patrols when he and his partner, a coyote named Sebastian, had to stop in to look into an employee that was caught stealing cash out of the till. Over time he'd struck up a friendship with the owner, a wonderful lynx named Shelly whom Pix had always had a mild crush on. He'd just never had the stones to ask her out and now she was engaged to a nice dingo attorney. She was always behind the counter from open to close every day except for weekends.

Making his way over to the counter, he smiled at the pretty white ferret that was working the barista station. She smiled back as her paws worked the knobs and switches. When he made it up to the counter Shelly glanced at him, smiling at first, then she looked at him seriously.

"What?" he asked rubbing a paw over his muzzle and whiskers. "Food?"

"Pix," she said softly. "What happened?"

The cheetah blinked owlishly at his friend. "How could you possibly know anything is wrong? I've been here for," he looked at his watch again. "Literally two minutes."

"Tonight was your big date with Jessie, and yet you're here in street clothes and tactical pants," she said as she looked him up and down. "So what happened?"

"It bothers me that you call these 'tactical' pants," he grumbled.

"I also know that you have one of your firearms in a shoulder holster under your hoodie," she smirked knowingly. "I've known you for eight years. I know when something is wrong."

"Fine," he conceded, shoulders slumping. "I lost track of time and she dumped me."

"Oh…" Shelly brought her paw up to her muzzle. "I'm sorry, Pix. Maybe give a few days and call her? Try to work it out?"

"Nah," Pix sighed. "I think it's best to just let it lie, you know?"

"That really sucks."

"It is what it is," he mumbled.

"I hate that saying," said the lynx. "Anyway here's your coffee. Venti, black; just the way you like it."

Pix reached into his back right pocket for his wallet only to be halted by an outstretched paw.

"Oh it's bought and paid for."

"Huh?" the cheetah looked at her confused. "By who?"

"It's 'whom' and by us," came a voice from his left.

Sitting on matching red plush armchairs were a grey wolf and a lioness. He had subtle mottling in what Pix could only think of as a 'professor's' outfit consisting of a white button up shirt, a green and brown sweater vest and a deeper green tie. He had golden eyes and somewhat larger ears for his species. Pix instantly sized him up; something he did with every new mammal he met and noticed that even though he was sitting with his legs crossed he was a bit short for a wolf, not as lanky, stockier yet built. The whiskers on his eyebrows were rather long and Pix could only imagine that they were incredibly expressive. The lioness on the other paw was a darker shade of gold than normal, a bit on the petite side with blue eyes and a tail tuft that was dyed bright magenta and blue, she had a blue tank top on that matched her eyes. He noticed splotches of paint in random places on her light-colored jeans. There was an open notebook in her paws that showed she was drawing or sketching. They were both smiling at him and seemed friendly enough.

"Um… Thanks," Pix mumbled, he didn't really know what to say so he just nodded and headed back to his table. The grey wolf followed him with his large expressive ears and the lioness just smiled at his back.

The wolf looked at the lioness, "Odd one isn't he?"

"I think that's an understatement," she said and went back to her sketch book.

* * *

A/N: So. That's the start of this tale. Please... Please... Please review! Or don't. But any feedback is good feedback in my eyes. I am also a huge fan of PM's and will try to answer them all.

ALSO! A huge thank you to ScaraMedn and kt_valmiri again for letting me use their OC's Liam the wolf and Luna the lioness. They will be in the story quite a bit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Pix was going over his scores from his earlier sniper rifle training session when the alarm went off on his phone. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost nine. A quick survey of the coffee shop showed that almost everyone had left. Only himself, Shelly, the white ferret whose name he didn't know, the grey wolf, the lioness, and two rabbits remained. " _Shit, where did the time go?"_ He thought as he started to pack his stuff up. The coffee shop was open every day from six in the morning to nine at night and since it was close to closing he wanted to get going so he wasn't a bother to Shelly. As he started to head toward the door it opened and in walked a dark brown soat. He pushed right past the larger cheetah without a word of apology and an angry look on his visage. Every instinct in Pix told him he should stay and his police and SWAT training were screaming at him that this was a mammal that was up to no good. He turned, set down his duffle by the door and followed behind the angry looking mammal.

"I'm sorry sir but we're closed," Shelly said in firm but friendly voice.

"Don't care. Come on Tikka," the soat said in a harsh tone. "You said you'd be done by nine and it's nine. I have shit to do tonight."

"Frank," the white ferret, apparently named Tikka, responded. "I said we close at nine. I still have to help clean up and close the shop down."

"Well, I'm your ride and if you don't come with me now then you can find your own way home."

"Excuse me sir?" Shelly said with a nervous smile as she tried to diffuse the situation. "Um… Tikka needs to stay with me until we lock up. Its company policy so there isn't one person alone at night. If you'd like I can get you something and you can hang out outside until we're done. On the house of course."

Frank's eyes darted to the lynx. "Does it look like I want to wait around here or have any of your crappy coffee?" he snarled, glaring at Tikka, "Let's _go_!"

"Frank… have you been drinking?" Tikka asked quietly.

"What kind of question is that?" Frank said, glaring daggers at her. "Get in the damn car… NOW!"

"Ok, sir. I tried to be nice. You need to leave or I'm calling the police," Shelly said picking up her phone and shooting a look at Pix, who was standing right behind the soat.

"Yeah? Well go ahead. I'll be long gone by the time they get here and she won't be coming back either," he said pointing at Tikka.

"But I like it here," the white ferret stated softly.

"I don't give a flying crap," said Frank as he reached across the counter only to have Pix drop a large, heavy, paw on his shoulder.

"I think it's time for you to leave, friend. The lady likes it here. We," the cheetah waved his other paw to encompass the whole shop. "Like her here and I can confirm, without a doubt, that you smell like alcohol. Last time I checked it's illegal to drive while drunk or drinking."

"Who the hell are you? The fun police?" he asked as he tried to shrug off Pix's paw but when Pix tightened his grip the soat spun around and pointed at him. "Get yer paws off me cat, or I'll have you arrested for assault."

Pix raised an eyebrow at that and carefully crouched down so he was on the same level as Frank. "I'm going to give you one more chance to apologize to Miss Tikka and then to Miss Shelly before the police come here. I'll even put in a good word for you. The worse you'll get is a night in the drunk tank and you'll be let out as soon as you're sober." When Frank screwed his face up and his muzzle started to curl Pix shook his head and continued. "Or we can do this the hard way and where you don't do what I said just a moment ago, I plant you right here and cuff you then explain to the responding officers that you were belligerent and becoming violent. Then all these nice mammals here will give their statements and corroborate my story."

Frank looked at the cheetah for a moment, trying to decide if he was being serious or not. Then he looked to the wolf and lioness who were watching him with an intensity that he found a bit disturbing before squaring his shoulders and looking back at Pix. "Piss off cat and mind your own business," he spat before trying to reach over the counter again.

Faster than Frank could register the motion he had his legs kicked out from underneath him and was face down on the floor, paws behind his back and small sized zip-cuffs on his wrists. "What the shit?" he gasped.

"I told you I what I was going to do," Pix replied before looking at Tikka. "Are you alright?"

"Just scared," the ferret answered mouth agape as she stared at Pix over the counter.

"Well, the cops are on their way," Shelly said. "Thanks Pix. I don't know what we would have done if you weren't here."

"You would have called the police and held the line open so they could trace the signal, and also so they could get a recording of everything being said while you stalled this idiot. The precinct is only a few blocks away so they'd have been here quickly enough."H turned around at the sight of red and blue lights reflecting off the wall. "See? And I know for a fact that you wouldn't let this asshat do anything to Tikka. Plus you have a wolf and a lioness here that both look like they can handle themselves," he said gesturing to the two on the red armchairs. The wolf's expressive ears perking up with a raised eyebrow and the lioness humming as she continued to sketch in her book.

"You're so dense sometimes you know that?" Shelly smiled at him fondly and sighed.

"Huh?" the cheetah responded.

"You can't do this!" yelled Frank as he thrashed under Pix's paws brining the focus of the room back to the smaller mammal on the floor.

"I can and I will because I'll answer your question from a moment ago. I am not the fun police, but I am with the ZPD," he said as he took out his badge and placed it in front of the soat's nose. "So, I have the legal right to detain you until officers get here, which will be any second." He glared at Frank, who seemed to deflate, his anger dropping away at seeing the ZPD shield in front of him. "Yeah, sucks to be you."

He held the soat down until a cruiser pulled up and two officers came into the shop. One was a white wolf named Jones and the other was an ocelot named Kandice. Pix knew that they worked the night shift and were good cops but other than that he didn't know much else.

"Dispatch this is 2-2 Alpha," Jones said into his radio.

"2-2 Alpha, dispatch. Send your traffic."

"Dispatch we're 10-23 and Officer Pix has a soat 10-95," the wolf officer responded.

"Copy that 2-2 Alpha."

Jones looked at Pix and smiled. "Well, well what have we here?"

"This here is Frank. He's a bit drunk and was refusing to leave. He started to get a bit pawsy and I had to cuff him."

"You didn't hurt him did you, Pix?" Kandice asked with a smile.

"Not at all," the cheetah responded.

"Ok, we'll take it from here," said Jones. "Kandice, why don't take… Frank, out to the cruiser and get his statement. I'll get every one's in here."

"10-4," Kandice said as she hauled Frank to his feet. The entire time the soat was glaring at Tikka.

As they left Jones looked at everyone then took out his note pad. "Ok," he said as his gaze settled on the white ferret who looked scared and was shaking a bit. "You must be the one he was trying to grab?" Tikka nodded. "Why don't we go and sit down and you can give me your statement."

After everyone had given their account of what had happened, Jones and Kandice left to process Frank. Pix was about to walk out of the shop when he once again thought better of it and walked over to where Shelly and Tikka were talking.

"You don't have to be afraid of him you know. I doubt he'll come back," Shelly was saying.

"I know, but he's not a nice mammal," Tikka replied with obvious concern while wringing her paws.

"Well, if you need anything, I know you're new and you don't know many mammals yet but I'll do what I can to help out," promised the lynx, placing a reassuring paw on the ferret's shoulder.

"Thanks, Shelly. It means a lot."

Pix walked up to them and looked Tikka over, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, thank you." Shelly did not fail to see the hero worship in Tikka's eyes as the ferret responded, though she was sure that Pix had.

"Not a problem," he stated. "You're in good hands here. Shelly always takes care of her employees and friends."

The lynx stood a bit straighter. "Damn right I do," she huffed.

"Do you need a ride home? I can get you a cab if you'd like," Pix offered.

Tikka shook her head, "I'm living with Frank. I don't think it'd be too smart to go back there. I'll find a place for tonight."

Pix looked at Shelly who looked a bit heart broken. Then he glanced and noticed that the wolf and lion were watching him with a bit of interest. It clicked in his head then and he realized that they were in here quite a bit and always at odd times. Not every time he'd been in, he would have noticed that for sure, but enough that he now remembered them. He looked back at the white ferret and said, "Do you have a moment? I know of a friend that is actually looking for a roommate. She's a raccoon so everything should be fine for you size wise."

Despite the hopeful look in her eyes, Tikka appeared a bit hesitant. "It's kind of late isn't it?"

"She's nocturnal and I know that she'll be up," Pix said as he dialed his phone and put it to his ear.

"Um, ok, I don't want to be a bother to anyone," Tikka said shyly but Pix wasn't listening as the line was picked up.

"If it isn't my favorite spotted cat," a snarky voice buzzed out of his phones speaker. "To what do I owe the great pleasure of your sultry voice in my ear tonight?"

"Hi, Rocky," Pix greeted. "I was wondering if you were still looking for a roommate."

"Wow, right to the point huh?" was the response. "No 'How's my favorite CSI?' or 'Hey! What's cookin' good lookin'?' and a 'Wow Rocky, you're new tail ring looked great the other day. I noticed because I'm always checking out your awesome tail' would be nice too. But no, it's just 'Hey, Rocky'."

Pix had taken the phone away from his ear and was now staring at it in confusion. He couldn't tell if his friend on the other side of the phone was angry or messing with him. The cheetah was brought out of his confusion as he heard snickering coming from the wolf and the lioness in the chairs. This added to his confusion as Rock continued to rant.

"And another thing! The next time you need a rush on a crime scene for one of your detective friends you can just forget about it! All I want is a little appreciation. Is that too much to ask?"

"Hang on a second, Rocky. I'm sorry I didn't say anything about your tail ring, it looked great by the way…"

"Thank you."

"… but I was serious when I asked if you still needed a roommate."

"Why?" came the reply. "Wait! Oh my gods! Are you losing your apartment? Because if you are you know you can always shack up with me. In fact I think we'd make a great pairing. OH! I know! I'll have to get some bigger towels and..."

"Rocky!" Pix exclaimed into the phone.

"What!" was the response.

"I'm not the one that needs a place to stay," there was a small whine from the other end of the line followed by a few more snickers and chuckles from everyone present. "It's for someone that needs a new place ASAP and she's kind of in a bind."

"I don't know…"

"She's a ferret and her name is Tikka. Her," he looked at the white mustelid with a questioning gaze.

"Ex," she stated crossing her arms.

"Ex, was being a bit pawsy and got hauled away. She doesn't feel comfortable going back to their place. She has a good job working for Shelly and she makes enough."

"Am I on speaker?" Rocky asked accusingly.

"You are now," Pix stated as he tapped the 'speaker' icon on his phone.

"Of course I am," she grumbled. "Tikka was it?"

"Yes, that's me," Tikka replied moving closer to the phone.

"Age?"

"Um… Twenty two."

"You work for Shelly? What do you do?"

"I'm a barista," she said shyly.

"Perfect. I love coffee. Can you afford four hundred a month?"

"I…" Tikka looked at Shelly with a worried expression only to be met with a nodding smile. "Yes."

"Good. Swing by tonight and we'll get you on the lease and bring that hunk of a cheetah with you," the line went dead and Pix put away his phone as Shelly started to laugh.

"What?" the SWAT officer asked.

"You know that Rocky has had a crush on you since you joined the force right?" Shelly said through a toothy smile.

"Yeah right," Pix sniffed dismissing the comment.

Shelly just shook her head while eyes rolled among the other mammals present.

The cheetah looked at Tikka and smiled. "I'll take you over there if you'd like. I have to head that way to get home anyhow.

"Oh… Ok… Are you sure this alright? I don't want to be a problem," the ferret fretted.

"It works out," Pix shrugged. He looked at Shelly and asked, "Mind if I leave my duffle here? I'll get it tomorrow morning when I come by before my morning work out?"

"Of course," she said and put a paw on his forearm, "Pix, thanks again."

"Don't mention it," he said smiling. "Ready to go Tikka?"

"I guess I am," was the somewhat wary response.

As he and Tikka were walking by the wolf and the lioness he nodded to them. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Anytime Sergeant Fleetpaw," the wolf said with a genuine smile. "Nicely done by the way."

"Uh… Thanks."

The lioness looked at him and smiled as well then turned her sketch book around to show a highly detailed pencil sketch of him sitting at the back table looking at his tablet with a coffee cup at his elbow. Below that was a quick sketch of him holding the soat down. "I think I'm going to put these up for my students," she said to no one in particular as she turned the book back around and looked at the drawings.

"Ok," was all Pix could say. "Have a good evening."

"You as well Sergeant," the wolf replied. The lioness fluttered a paw in his direction without looking up from fixing some detail in her artwork.

As Tikka and Pix made their way outside he glanced back at the shop that was finally closing up. He looked at his watch and saw that it was close to ten thirty. Releasing a sigh he happily recalled that tomorrow was the weekend and he was off; unless he got called in that is.

Tikka heard him sigh and looked up at the cheetah. "I'm sorry about this again, Mr. Pix."

"Huh?" he said and looked down at the white ferret. "Oh, no… it's not you; I've just had a long day. I'm happy to help. No one deserves to be treated like that."

"I know I'm new but Shelly told me that you've been coming to her shop for almost a decade. She said that you're quiet but nice."

"Well I guess she'd know," he agreed, reaching up to scratch behind one ear. "I've known her longer than most mammals I suppose."

"Well, I just want to say that she's right. No one has really stood up for me like that."

"Um… You're welcome."

The pair got on the tram and rode in a comfortable silence to their stop. When they came out onto the street Tikka looked around and saw that the neighborhood was rather nice and had a few restaurants and bars with outdoor seating. It made sense seeing as it was still early fall. They suddenly heard a loud voice.

"HOLY SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS!"

"Oh gods," Pix said as he stopped and put a paw to his forehead as Tikka jumped and ducked behind the larger cheetah.

"Hey, Carrots! It's Morse Code!"

Pix and Tikka turned to see a red fox running over to them, beer in hand and a toothy smile on his muzzle. "Hey there buddy," Nick said happily. "Decided to come out after all? And who is this pretty thing?" he asked, noticing the white ferret peeking out from behind Pix. Judy suddenly bounded up to them as well and gave her fox an annoyed look.

"Sorry about that, Pix. I tried to… Oh, hello," she said happily. "I'm Judy, this is my mate Nick, don't pay attention to him."

Nick looked at his mate with a seemingly hurt expression, "Carrots, now that hurts me deep. Don't you know that everyone pays attention to me?"

"Awe," Judy teased. "Did I hurt your feewings," she said as if she was talking to a kit before slugging his arm. "We both know no one pays attention to you."

"Anyway…" Pix cut in. "This is Tikka," he said, waving to the white ferret that was still hiding behind him. "I had to arrest her drunken ex at Shelly's when he got a bit pawsy. She needs a place to stay so I called Rocky and she agreed to let her be her roommate."

Judy looked at Tikka with a bit of worry. "I'm sorry Tikka is there anything we can do?"

"No, thank you. Pix has done quite a bit already. I just need a place to stay since I don't think it'd be smart to go back to where I live now."

"Well you'll love Rocky," Judy said with a smile. "She's a quirky mammal but she's great."

"We're going to go over there before it gets too late guys, ok?" Pix prompted.

"Ok. Good luck Tikka," Judy said with a wave as Nick practically picked her up and started to back towards the pub.

"Fluff, there is fun to be had and since we still have that bet going on Wolford we need to get back."

"I'm still winning and remember," Judy pointed out to her fox. "If you lose I get whatever I want for twenty-four hours."

"First off, bunny o'mine, I'm not gonna lose. And second, just because you're up by two doesn't mean anything." Nick continued as the couple got further away.

Pix watched as they walked back to the pub while continuing to bicker good naturedly. He shook his head and wondered how two mammals that were so perfect for each other crossed paths.

"Huh, must be fate," he mumbled.

"What was that, Mr. Pix?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, Tikka. I'm just talking to myself," he smiled down at her.

They walked a few blocks before coming to a large apartment complex. Pix walked up and rang the buzzer for 320. A moment later a curt voice came over the speaker.

"Yes?"

"Hey Rocky, it's Pix."

"That was fast. C'mon up."

 _*BZZZZZZZZZZZZT*_

The door opened and he led Tikka through the lobby to the elevators. They rode up to the third floor then, once they stepped out, turned left and followed the hallway as the numbers counted down until they hit the right one. Pix went to knock but, before his paw could connect, the door flew open. In front of them stood a skinny raccoon with a cup of coffee in her hand wearing flannel pants and a sleeping shirt.

"Mmmm," the raccoon hummed as she gave the cheetah a once over.

"What?" asked Pix.

Ignoring him Rocky shifted her gaze to the white ferret standing close to her spotted friend. "You must be Tikka."

"Um… Yes," the ferret replied hesitantly.

"As I stated before the rent is four hundred a month and you don't mind my strange hours. I also am terrible at making coffee so I would appreciate it if you could cover that for both of our sakes. If you have things to move in we can get them tomorrow or at a later date. If you don't then that's fine too. I have everything we'll need including your own bed and a TV in your room. Assuming this is all well and good with you I'd like to formally welcome you to Casa del Rocky," the raccoon said as she extended her paw toward the ferret.

Looking up at Pix, who gave a smile and a small nod, Tikka smiled uncertainly, but shook the offered paw firmly.

"Good!" smiled Rocky. "Now let me give you the tour." She began to lead Tikka into the apartment before turning her head to the cheetah, "I'll see you on Monday, Pix. Have a good weekend!" Rocky called with a wink.

And with that the door closed and Pix found himself standing in the hallway alone. He sighed again as he glanced at his watch, it was now eleven and he was getting tired. _"At least some good came out of today,"_ he thought as his clawed digit pressed the call button. After a few moments he realized that the elevator wasn't coming so he headed for the stairs. It was only three floors and Pix usually tried to take the stairs as much as possible anyway. Exiting on the ground floor Pix headed back the way they had come and paused as he passed the bar where he knew his friends and fellow officers were enjoying the start of their weekend. After contemplating joining them the cheetah decided that he needed to head home and grab some shut eye, so he turned and made his way to the tram that would take him home.

* * *

What Pix hadn't seen was the set of golden eyes that watched him as he walked toward the tram station.

"You stare any harder Jackie and you're going to burn a hole in his head," Nick commented to the female cheetah who blushed under her fur.

"He doesn't like hanging out, does he?" she asked. "You seem to get along with him really well, Nick. What's he like?"

Nick glanced at his mate, who was busy trying to beat Wolford at darts in the back of the bar. "Judy has actually known him longer, but Pix and I get along great, at least in my opinion. And since it's my opinion," the fox said with a smirk. "That means it's the best opinion so yeah."

Jackie smiled at the fox. "Isn't he dating that pretty cheetah… What was her name?" she asked, as if she weren't phishing for information.

"Jessie," Nick replied. "And I don't think they are anymore."

Jackie had only been on the force for a year and was still considered by many to be a rookie, but Nick and Judy had taken the larger predator under their wing. She had become close friends with them quickly and then Wolford and Fangmeyer also, as they all seemed to hang out outside of work often.

Judy came over and hopped onto Nick's lap and took a sip of his drink. "Was that Pix I just saw walking by?"

"It sure was Carrots."

"Should we ask him if he wants to join?"

"I think he's headed home. You know how he likes to keep to himself, plus just being dumped and alooOOOF," he grunted as Judy elbowed him in the ribs.

"He didn't want us telling anyone," she hissed loudly.

"He didn't say that exactly," Nick clarified smiling as he rubbed his ribs. "He just kind of implied it."

"Oh, poor thing," Jackie said looking back to where Pix had entered the tram station. "I hope he's ok."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Nick waved off her concern. "He's a tough one. He's been on the force for eight years and in S.W.A.T. for over five."

"Nick," Judy said looking up at him from under his muzzle. "There are different kinds of tough."

"HOPPS!" Wolford yelled from across the bar, "It's your turn and I'm not done beating you!"

Nick turned his head to look over his shoulder at the wolf and then back to his mate. "How's he holding up, Fluff?"

"So far he's rallied and I'm behind by a game but I'm on a hot streak," she shrugged.

"Cutting it a bit close there, Carrots," Nick smiled.

"You only barely beat him. If I win this then we go to sudden death."

"Fair enough."

"Are you two betting again?" Jackie laughed well aware of the games the two would play.

"Yep!" they both said as Judy hopped down and darted over to take her turn at darts.

"Don't worry about Pix. Best thing you can do is talk to him when he's by himself, I know for a fact that he'd like that," Nick said as she smiled over his drink before taking a sip."

"I think I might do that," Jackie said, a grin curving her muzzle. 

* * *

**Again thank you to ScarMedn, BlueberryandHoney and kt_valmiri for everything they do. They are epic and you should highfive and/or hug them if you get the chance. Until next time o/**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It has been an interesting few months. Sorry it took me so long to get this up. The good (or bad) news is that i have five more chapters that will be posting on normal intervals. So fear not, this story is still very much alive and well... just... you know, real life and all that silly nonsense. I do promise that there will be action and heroics and maybe even some fur on fur action. BUT enough... ENJOY**

 **As always I have to thank ScaraMedn for beta and soundboarding. kt_valmiri for editing and cuffing me on the head when needed and Blueberryandhoney for her honesty and also beta. Again, if you haven't checked their work you're missing out. On with the story.**

 **Chapter 3:**

Pix had woken up at his normal time of five thirty in the morning and made his way to Shelly's by six fifteen. He stopped in and was the only one in the shop except for Shelly and her swift fox assistant manager named Sam. Pix had known Sam for the whole five years that he had been working at Shelly's place. The smaller vulpine always smiled when he saw the Cheetah when he walked into the coffee shop.

"Hey Pix."

"Hello Sam."

"I heard you guys had some fun last night."

"I suppose you could say that."

"Well, Shelly said that it was pretty cool watching you actually do your job. Gotta say man, I think it'd be awesome to be a cop," the beige fox said as he filled a venti cup full of the steaming hot black beautiful brew.

"How old are you Sam?"

"I'm twenty five… I think."

"Then why don't you go and apply? We can always use good mammals on the force and the cut off is thirty five."

"Oh, come on Pix. I'm a fox. You know our rep. I'm lucky that Shelly even gave me a promotion to assistant manager," he said with a grin as he handed over the hot cup of coffee.

"Oh shut up, Sam," Shelly said as she came out of the back with some fresh pastries and donuts, "The whole perception of that speciest bullshit has been changing. I mean look at that Nick Wilde. He and that bunny, Judy, have been changing everyone's outlook. They are both the first of their species to become cops and not only that but they are also mates. It's opened a lot of mammal's eyes," she pointed out as she put the food in the display case in front of the register and then looked at Pix with a hard stare, "But don't be trying to steal my employees, Pix. Sam works hard here and he's earned his spot," Sam puffed his chest with a bit of pride, "And while I think he would be a great cop, I would need to find someone that is just as good as him to fill my spot."

"Don't worry Shelly, I'm not going anywhere," the swift fox said with a smile, "But I would be lying if I said that it wouldn't be a great experience, Nick Wilde is kind of my hero."

"Oh, Sam," Shelly said and put a paw on his shoulder, "I'm just joking around, I think you'd be a great cop, like I said."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do, but you'll never know unless you try."

Sam fidgeted with his paws for a moment and looked a bit unsure. Shelly gave Pix a pointed look and flicked her eyes to the smaller predator.

"Tell you what Sam," the cheetah said as he leaned down on the counter, "Let me bring a friend of mine in Monday and he can answer all your questions. I haven't been a beat cop in half a decade so things may have changed but I'm sure he'll be able to explain more," Pix said as he winked at Shelly.

"That would be pretty cool, Pix, thanks."

Shelly was happy that Sam was thinking about his future, she paid a decent wage to her employees and they all made pretty good tips but a career it was not. Sam deserved something more. He's always idolized the first responders of Zootopia, maybe this was his calling.

"Oh, thought to a thought," Shelly said, "I got a text from Tikka saying that she and… um… Rocky? Hit it off last night and that they are going to get her stuff today, so I gave her the evening off. Lilly is covering for her this evening."

Pix physically winced at that causing Shelly and Sam to chuckle.

"She means well, Pix, you now that right?" Sam said.

"I think so."

"She's a good kit, young and hasn't found her way yet. She looks at you and sees a big strong male that is a hero and a sergeant in the ZPD S.W.A.T., can you blame her?" Shelly said smiling referring to the young dark furred, petite, jaguar that worked part-time in the evenings.

"Yes I can. I'm not a hero. I just do my job."

"Oh shush you."

Pix just looked at both of them blankly, "Anyway I'm gonna go for a swim. I'll see you both later," he pulled out his wallet and paid for his coffee, tipping Sam more than the coffee was worth, grabbed his bag and headed out to the door.

"So," Shelly said looking at Sam, "You really wanna be a cop?"

"I think I'll look into it."

"Then I suggest you when you see Pix and his friend on Monday you have lots of questions and a notebook," Shelly smiled as she walked around the corner to start setting up the tables.

Sam was nodding when the door chimed and in walked Liam and Luna.

"Hey you guys," Luna said as they walked over to the counter, "Was that our favorite hero cheetah from last night that we saw leaving a moment ago?"

"Yep," Sam said, "He's going for swim, or so he says."

"Hmm," Liam said scratching the fur under his chin, "I didn't think cheetahs like water that much."

"He's an odd one," Luna stated again, "We've been seeing him here for years and he only seems to recognize us sporadically."

"Well he has a pretty stressful job you know?" Shelly stated, "I'm sure he remembers you guys, I mean you guys don't see each other every day but enough to at least know each other's names."

"He seemed a bit down last night before all the… fun… happened," Liam said.

"He was supposed to go on a date with his girlfriend, Jessie, but he lost track of time at the firing range. I guess she had enough and dumped him," Shelly said.

"Oh, that's too bad," Luna said, "I guess buying him that coffee was the right thing to do."

"I know he doesn't look like it but he did appreciate it. He's just a bit… of a loner."

"So we saw. He had no problem helping out that nice new ferret that you just hired though," said Luna.

"Oh he's nice. He had a huge heart and all of that. Despite the fact that he's a S.W.A.T. officer he's incredibly kind."

"Maybe we should try to get to know him. He looks like he could use some friends," Liam commented.

"He hangs out with some of his fellow officers from what I understand. But as you two know he's here almost every day around six thirty and usually here around seven at night after his shift. I don't think he does much else other than work, work out, train and drink coffee," Shelly said as she and Sam started to make their drinks. Sam started the hot green tea with coconut milk and Shelly was pouring a venti with three shots of espresso, "I also know he lives alone in a big two bedroom apartment a few blocks from here."

"You know an awful lot about someone who doesn't really talk," Liam said eyeing the smaller cat.

Shelly shrugged, "I've known him for eight years. He opens up to me about a few things and believe it or not he's very open if just ask him. Most mammals are put off because of the fact that he's always quiet and reserved and minds his own business," she handed both of them their drinks and accepted their payment. Liam put a few bucks in the tip jar before they sat down at their favorite chairs against the wall, Liam opening the Zootopia Gazette and Luna going through her sketch book.

Pix had completed his two-mile swim and was relaxing at the edge of the pool with his spotted arms on top of one another on the edge of the pool… He has his eyes closed was relaxing, bringing his heart rate down when heard a few squeals and paws running toward the pool. He inwardly groaned, the whole reason he came to the pool this early was because there were few mammals here. He looked at his watch, eight thirty. Who the hell brings their kits to the pool before lunch? His answer was literally handed to him as a pair of smaller hind paws stopped in front of him and he opened his eyes to look up at a young male cheetah staring at him.

"HI!" he said excitedly.

"Hello."

"What's your name?"

"Um… Pix."

"That's a funny name. My name is Riley."

"Hi there Riley."

"Were you sleeping?"

"No I was bringing my heart rated town after a two mile swim."

The young cheetah gave him a confused look, "Ok… want to play?"

"Um… I… What are you doing here so early?" he asked looking at the young cheetah that had orange blow up floaters on his arms and floral patterned board shorts.

"My big sister likes to swim when she can on the weekends, we usually go in the afternoon but she said she has something to do today so she said I could come with her if I got up early."

"How old are you?"

"Seven."

"Where is your sister?"

"Huh?" the young cheetah looked around in a bit of panic, "She was right behind me."

"Well let's go by the chairs and wait for her ok?" Pix said as he got out of the pool and stood on the edge for a moment waiting for the water to drain out of his ZPD swim trunks before he shook the majority of the water out of his fur. He reached down and grabbed the young kits right paw with his left and led him over to the area that had beach chairs lined up to wait for his sister.

"Riley?" a worried voice came from the hallway leading to the locker rooms, "Riley? Where are you?"

"I'm out here Jackie!"

Pix froze; he knew he recognized that voice, _Oh shit,_ he thought and kept his back to her.

"Riley Dawson!" she exclaimed, "I told you not to go to the pool until I met… you…" her voice trailed off as she noticed a large male cheetah holding her younger brothers paw, "You'd better let him go, sicko!" she said as she marched over towards them, Pix could hear the anger even in her footsteps, "I'm an officer in the ZPD and if you think you're going to put your paws on my little brother I'm going to kick your ass!"

Pix glanced down at Riley who was looking back at his sister with a fearful expression, of course he knew how it looked, and he couldn't really blame her, she was just trying to protect her brother, and she obviously didn't recognize him outside of how he looked in clothing.

"Jackie, don't worry. This is P…"

"I don't care if he's Santa Paws!"

Pix sighed and knew it couldn't be helped. He turned and looked right at Jackie, causing her to come skidding to a stop on the wet cement almost falling as she recognized him, "I'm sorry to cause you alarm Officer Dawson, I was just making sure your brother here was going to wait for you by the chairs until you got out here. I promise I wasn't going to kitnap him."

"Oh shit," she whisper before coming to attention and saluting, dropping the towels she was holding and also letting Pix get a good look at her. He couldn't help but run his eyes over her lithe form in the green bikini that showed off her toned stomach and legs. She didn't have large breasts but most cheetahs don't due to their high metabolisms and active life style, plus they fit her frame perfectly.

"At ease Jackie," Pix said with a smile, "We're off duty and at the pool for crying out loud."

"I'm sorry sergeant, I didn't know anyone else was going to be here this early and I thought… I mean…" she trailed off.

"Don't worry about it. I can see where the confusion would come from."

"But I could have at least asked what was going on," Jackie said a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, seriously."

Jackie seemed to relax for a moment then and Pix caught her giving him a once over. He blushed a bit under his fur and bent down to get his towel but not before hearing a little gasp from Jackie as she noticed the scars on his left shoulder that rand down his back and side. They always gasp at the scars.

"Before you ask they're from a cougar that went savage during the night-howler case. Tranqs didn't work and he was going for a kit so I tackled him and held him so the young bear could get away. He sunk his claws into my shoulder and tore my body armor off while raking me with his hind claws. I held him down until the rest of my four mammal unit could muzzle and restrain him. And these two over here," he pointed to what looked like bullet holes in right side, "were from a bank heist gone wrong where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," and with that he quickly dried himself off and threw on his blue ZPD shirt before wrapping the towel around his still damp swim shorts.

"I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"It's ok. I'm done with my work out anyway," he looked down at Riley, "It was nice to meet you, Riley. Be safe and take care of your sister ok? She's a very brave mammal that cares about you a lot," the young cheetah was just staring at him in awe and only managed to nod before Pix had turned and grabbed his duffle. Standing he smiled at Jackie to show her he wasn't upset and there were no hard feelings, "Have good weekend, Jackie."

"You… you can stay if you'd like. Riley's going to play in the shallow end while do some laps."

"Thanks, but I've put in my two miles and I'm a bit waterlogged. But have fun and maybe I'll see you at the precinct on Monday."

Jackie watched him as he left heading toward the locker room entrance. She couldn't help but ogle his tail and sleek physique.

"Do you like Mr. Pix?" Riley asked, bringing her back to the here and now, it was only after she looked down at her little brother that she realized she had been staring at the empty entrance to the locker rooms a few moments after Pix had left.

"I think I do," she said more to herself than her younger brother, "But… it's time to go swimming!" she yelled and picked him up and threw him in the pool causing the young cheetah to squeal with delight.

Liam and Luna were talking quietly as they sat in their usual chairs, well Liam was talking, Luna was busy sketching Lilly the as she was reading a book. It was around nine in the morning and besides a few regulars the traffic in Shelly's shop was rather light. Shelly was actually sitting at a window seat with a cup of tea and Lilly was leaning over the counter muzzle deep in a book on marine biology and Sam was in the back baking cookies and going over payroll.

"Don't you think, Luna?" Liam asked.

"Hmmm?" the lioness asked looking up from the sketch book.

"I was saying that I think that if you look at the rate of technical expansion we went from the industrial revolution to the nuclear age to the information age then in the next twenty years we should, according to the trend, be settling on planets an and have moon colonies."

"Yes, yes dear, fascinating."

Liam swiveled his ears towards the Lioness, "What has you distracted?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about, _**Pix**_ ," she emphasized the name while watching Lilly and as soon as she did Lilly's ears swiveled toward them even though she kept her eyes on book.

Liam's large eyebrow whiskers raised in curiosity. He waited a few seconds and said, "Ah, yes, _**Pix**_ ," the ears swiveled again, "I hear he's single now," at this Lilly's ears went straight up and her eyebrows raised, "How unfortunate that his girlfriend dumped him last night."

"It's too bad, _**Pix**_ ," Luna stressed the name again and Lilly turned the page in her book with her ears still swiveled toward the wolf and lioness, "looked a bit sad last night," they both had to suppress giggles as they saw Lilly's face droop just a slight bit and her ears fell back a fraction, "I wonder what kind of mammal he is to date?"

"Oh," Liam drew out, "We know he's brave and we know he's strong and fast…"

"Well, not too fast I'd hope," Luna quipped, drawing a small snort and an ear twitch from Lilly.

"Fleet of paw, my dear, hence his surname, Fleetpaw. We also know that he's intelligent since he's a sergeant in the ZPD and a decorated member of Precinct One's S.W.A.T. unit. We also know that he's a dedicated mammal to his job and his significant other, example: his job since he's been a member of the ZPD for over eight years and a member of the elite S.W.A.T. unit for five. That takes dedication and bravery. To his significant other because, despite the fact that he seems to on occasion not remember that we exist, we have been acquainted with Mr. _**Pix**_ ," ear twitch, "for almost four years and I recall that every relationship that he has been in has lasted over six months, that takes a lot of heart to juggle his job and a relationship."

"Hmmm, you're right. I wonder what he's like in bed," Luna said flatly.

Lilly practically blushed through her dark fur and snorted before closing her book and tried to discretely head to the back, and failed miserably when a loud crash sounded and almost immediately after came the call of, "I'm Okaaaaay!"

Which was immediately followed by, "Lilly! Oh my gods, what happened?" from Sam.

Shelly just glanced back at the diabolical duo, "Really? You guys just had to mess with her?"

Liam looked at Luna who turned her head from the swing door to look at Liam and then Shelly, "Well, of course."

"Would you expect anything less of us Shelly?"

Sighing, Shelly set her tea down and stood up to make her way to the back and check on the young black jaguar, "I should have known better."

Liam and Luna just smiled at each other when the door rang, a still damp Pix entered in swim trunks and a tight fitting ZPD t-shirt that clung to him and showed off sleek rippling muscle underneath, his duffle slung over his left shoulder and a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"My, my Sergeant," Luna commented, drawing Pix's attention to her.

"Hello again Luna, Liam," he nodded to both mammal sitting in their usual chairs.

"Ah. So you do remember us, Sergeant."

"I do," he said, "thanks again for the coffee last night."

"Of course, our pleasure," Liam smiled, his green eyes flashing.

Luna caught Shelly's eyes as she came out from the back and nodded, flicking her eyes to Pix, receiving a small smile.

"Hey there," Shelly said a bit louder than normal, drawing a smile from both Luna and Liam, they knew what was going to happen next, "What can we get you? My barista will be out here in just a moment," she practically called over her shoulder.

"Are you ok, Shelly?" Pix asked cocking his head to the side while looking down at the smaller cat, confused.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," the lynx said as she started to giggle.

"Okaaaaay. Can I have my regular to go?"

At that moment Lilly walked out of the back half covered in flower making her look like an Oreo cookie, "I'm sorry about that, sir," she said in Pix's general direction, not bothering to look up, "What can I get you?" as she came to her station she finally looked up and practically jumped back with a start, "HOLY GODS!" she yelled as she saw who it was and all the thoughts that Liam and Luna had planted in her head came to the for front of her mind as she saw him with slightly damp and sexy sleek muscle visible under his tight blue ZPD shirt. She fell on her tail and stared for a second before she again blush almost through her dark fur and took off through the swing door again.

Pix just looked at her and then the cackling, maniacal laughter of the wolf and lioness caused him to turn his head wondering what was so funny. He looked down at himself to make sure that there wasn't something that he didn't notice and then looked to Shelly who held out his venti cup of black coffee. Still confused he set his duffle down and started to dig through it for his wallet when Shelly tapped his shoulder, having come from around the counter.

"It's bought and paid for."

"Huh?" he looked at the lynx who pointed to the devious pair that were wiping tears from their eyes. His eyes settled on them and he was about to protest when Luna just stuck her tongue out at him like a little kit getting the last word in and went back to chuckling with her wolf accomplish.

"Um… Thanks…" he said and turned to leave, nodding to the still chuckling pair as he left, Liam giving him a lazy wave.

"That was beyond entertaining," he said still chuckling.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun," replied the Luna.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Again thank you to ScaraMedn and KT for their impute as well as Blueberryandhoney. Enjoy guys**

 **Chapter 4:**

Pix glanced back at Shelly's shop and was still a bit confused as to what had happened a few moments ago, but he was glad that he had his fresh cup of black coffee. Pix didn't really have anything else planned for the day and didn't want to head home, so he decided he'd head over to the precinct and check the duty roster. Maybe he'd be able to find a range partner or a jogging buddy.

The walk to the precinct was only five blocks and in that time, he ran the pool episode through is mind. He couldn't help but admit that the little cheetah cub, Riley, was cute. He also couldn't help but admit that Jackie was an amazingly attractive mammal.

He had a small smile on his face as he sipped his coffee again, thinking about how she looked in that bikini. She was so different that his ex, Jessie. Jessie was almost as tall as Pix and she wasn't petite, not chubby or anything but had a bit more to her. She was a pretty mammal in her own right but Jackie… _Damnit Wilde,_ he thought to himself with a smirk, _this is all your fault… 'Spots in all the right places', no shit she has spots in all the right…_

In fact, he realized, stopping in his tracks, she did have spots in all the right places and they were lighter brown instead of black like his. They were also smaller and she had some marbling on her back that he saw today. Giving himself a mental shake, he readjusted his duffle and started to walk again. _I should have stayed,_ he thinks, looking over his shoulder for a brief second and contemplating heading back to the pool. _I still am in my trunks. And it would be nice to talk to someone that understood how work really is,_ he mused. Then he squashed the thought with a shake of his head and kept walking to Precinct One.

immediately upon entering the front doors, he heard a Gazelle song. Looking towards the front reception desk revealed Ben Clawhauser deeply engrossed in his phone. Pix walked up to the desk and stood there for a moment letting his fellow cheetah finish whatever the phone was doing before flicking his ear.

"Huh-wha?" Ben jerked back and almost fell off his seat.

"Morning Ben," Pix said with a small smile. "I thought you were off today."

"Oh, Hi Pix," the portly cheetah smiled. "I was called in because Sampson called out sick and they still haven't filled the other dispatch or reception spot so, yeah…" He spread his arms. "Here I am."

"Awe man, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's ok. I can use the OT."

"Heh, can't we all?" Pix agrees with a quirk of his lips.

"Anyway," Clawhauser continued. "It's not that I mind seeing your awesome self every day, but why are you here?"

"Oh, I… um… I was at the pool and got done with my workout but I didn't feel like heading home so I thought I'd check the duty roster and see if there was anyone here that wanted a range or workout partner."

Ben just looked at him for a long moment. "I know you S.W.A.T. guys are crazy but seriously, Pix, it's the weekend and there is NOTHING going on."

"I'll only hang around until noon then I'm out, I'll see you later Ben," Pix said as he headed toward the locker rooms to change into his spare range clothes, which consisted of cargo pants, blue ZPD t-shirt and duty belt with a holster and one of his spare pistols, he decided to leave the one in his duffle where it was for no other reason than his spare was right in front of him. Once that was done he checked the duty roster and saw that there was no one signed-up for range duty.

Pix sighed to himself, _Of course there wouldn't be anyone at the range at_ … He glanced at his watch. _Nine in the morning on a Saturday_. He shrugged. He didn't mind shooting by himself, but found it immensely more productive and, well, fun to shoot with someone else.

"I wonder if Jackie would like to go shooting?" he mumbled to himself.

"I'm sure she'd love it, Morse and you should ask her."

Resisting the urge to jump and give credence to every startled feline joke ever invented, Pix turned to see his red vulpine friend leaning against the wall with a pair of yellow shooters glasses and pink ear muffs draped around his neck. Pix started to openly snicker when he noticed that he was also wearing a pink ZPD t-shirt that was clearly cut for a female.

"Are those regulation?" Pix asked with a smirk as he pointed at the pink ear protection.

Nick's eyes opened wine in mock hurt while waving his right paw up and down his body, "What? You don't like my new ZPD standard issue range outfit? I'll have you know that Spots thought I looked absolutely adorable."

"You lost a bet to Judy didn't you?"

The fox just smiled his normal smarmy smile and put his paws in his front pockets, rocking back and forth on his hind paws, "Yep," he said popping the 'p', "Carrots came out ahead in our betting war at Wolford's expense and since I've lost and I have to do whatever she says for twenty four hours, Princess Fluff has decreed that I, and I alone, must give the range demonstration for the ZPA Cadets on this glorious morning." Nick ended with a showy court bow, complete with a flourish of his left paw.

Pix just chuckled. "So she kicked your ass?"

Nick went back to leaning against the wall and smiled. "Nah, she beat me by one game. I honestly let her win."

"Riiiight."

"I actually did," he smiled a genuine smile. "She needed some sleep. We've been pulling a few doubles lately trying to wrap up a few cases and I knew she didn't want to do this, especially since she was a bit loopy last night. So, I took the fall."

"What were you guys playing?"

"Darts."

"Huh," Pix said with a bit of surprise. It was well known how good Nick was at various games of chance and games where you could place bets. Plus, he was a hell of shot. "Okay," Pix conceded. "I believe you. And, now that I think of it, you and I are actually tied for darts at the moment and as much as I like Judy, well, she's not the best with accuracy, especially after a few pints."

"A rematch that will happen soon I hope and then I can claim the title of 'King of Pointy Things You Throw at Cork'!" the fox declared with a fist pump.

"Challenge accepted," Pix said with a smile.

"By the way, Morse," Nick said as he cocked his head sideways, giving the cheetah a curious look, "Why are you here? You're off today."

"Oh- Um… I went for a swim and didn't feel like heading home or working out so I, sort of ended up here."

Nick ran a paw down his muzzle and gave a long-suffering sigh. "Morse, how many times to I need to tell you, go somewhere and relax."

"I'm great at relaxing," Pix stated, fixing the red todd with mock glare. "I love to shoot things, and it relaxes me."

"Hmm, good point." Nick thought for a moment. "Then I guess you can take the far range and leave the other eleven lanes for me if that's ok with you. It's also a bit of training today with them on the weapons and firearms we use, both lethal and non-lethal."

"Sounds fine by me," the cheetah said. "I'm just going to do some pistol work and maybe sight in my new holographic sight on my AR."

"Oooo, fancy."

"It is. It's the new EOTech. I've been trying to get my paws on one for a while now and…" he saw Nick just staring blankly at him. "You don't care at all do you," Pix stated knowingly.

"Huh? Oh, were you going to give me all the technical specs of something that is inconsequential and has no meaning in my life?" Nick smirked. "Yes, yes you were."

Pix just smiled and laughed. "Touché." He checked his watch and saw that it was almost nine thirty. "When are they due to arrive?"

"Ten."

"Perfect. I'll go grab my gear and I'll get set up and out of your way." Pix headed to the armory and checked out his weapon and a few hundred rounds of ammo for both his rifle and his pistol. As he was walking back he heard his phone go _*PING*_. He brought it out of his pocket and swiped the screen unlocked. He had a message from Shelly.

 _ **When you get done doing what you're doing can you swing by and grab an application for Sam? I think his is actually really interested and I think it would be good for him.**_

He thought about it for a second and then responded as he was walking the hallway from the armory to the range.

 _ **Sure thing. I'm at the precinct now. I'll also ask Nick if he can swing by after his shift on Monday and meet me there so he can answer Sam's questions.**_

 _*PING*_

 _ **You seriously need to take a vacation or something.**_

He looked at the phone. What was she talking about; he took his allotted vacation time every year.

 _ **I take vacations.**_

 _*PING*_

 _ **Away from everything, Pix. As in out of the city. Out of the country even.**_

What?

 _ **Sure. I'll drop the app off after I'm done here.**_

 _*PING*_

 _ **You're hopeless.**_

Needless to say, Pix was very confused as he walked back into the range and then was even more confused when he saw Nick on his phone smiling. Pix couldn't help but smile at the todd in his pink ZPD shirt with his pink ear protection. He was on the phone and walking toward him.

"Uh-huh… Yep. Of course. Yep- Yeah, they'll be here soon. Do this and we're even, see you soon."

"You alright Pinky Pie?"

"That's _Mister_ Pinky Pie to you," Nick said as he sauntered up to the larger cheetah and stopped in front of him, his head coming up to just below Pix's neck. "And don't you forget it." Nick said as he poked Pix in the chest with every word.

Just to give Nick a taste of his own medicine, Pix quickly stepped back and took a picture of the red fox in all his pink glory. "Oh I won't, not now."

"HEY!" his friend yelled and tried to grab the phone but the cheetah was faster and easily held it out of reach. "Not funny, Morse!"

"I think it is," Pix said as he placed a paw on Nick's head and pushed him back. "You look cute in pink."

"Fine," the todd huffed. "I propose a wager." Nick waved his paws in front of him in a calming manner as he saw Pix start to protest. "It'll be just you and me and the range."

That perked Pix's ears up. However, the grin that curved the foxes muzzle worried him slightly.

"I have to do a taser demo today and I was going to try to bribe one of the desk sergeants but since you're here why don't we do this," Nick said as he put on his signature smile, halfway closing his eyes while crossing his arms over his chest. "We're both great shots and I seem to remember that at the last qualifiers you got a one hundred and I got a ninety seven." Pix nodded.

"So," Nick tented his digits in front of his muzzle and looked up at the larger predator with his emerald green eyes. "I say we go one mag, using our off paws, single pawed, best score on the target wins."

"And what does winning mean?" Pix ask very cautiously knowing full well that this fox usually bet in his own favor, at least outside of his mate.

"If I win, you have to erase that picture or at least promise that you'll only use it for personal reasons," he smirked with waggle of his brows. "Aaaaand you have to take the taser to the chest for the demo."

"HA! WHAT?" the cheetah huffed loudly.

"If YOU win then I take the taser shot and you can print that picture up and post it on the duty roster or in the bull pen or wherever you want. Do we have an accord?" The last five words were said with what Pix could only surmise was a terrible attempt at an aristocratic accent.

Pix eyed him for a moment. "While I have no aversion to foxes at all, if I did want to have a picture of one for 'personal reasons', as you say, it would be a vixen. No offense." Nick just smirked still holding his paw out, but that smirk suddenly went away as Pix smiled a full fanged smile and practically crushed his paw with a firm shake. "Bet!" the cheetah said.

"Um… I think I should be scared." The todd gulped, not used to mammals so sure of themselves in his bets.

Pix just smiled all the wider and said, "Eyes and ears, Pinky," and put on his own shooter's-glasses and ear protection. Nick gave him another nervous assessment and did the same.

Pix pulled out his M&P and checked the chamber, confirming that there was a round seated in the chamber then casually slipped it into his left paw, brought the pistol up, flipped off the thumb safety and instantly unloaded all eighteen rounds into the head of the silhouette target in a steady stream of fire. As the last round left the gun and the slide locked open, he immediately flipped the thumb safety back on and dropped the mag out before visually checking that the chamber was empty and put the pistol on the bench in the lane.

Even though the target was 6 meters away Nick could see that, while the grouping wasn't as tight as it would have been if Pix had used the standard two pawed grip, it was all within the 'head shot' area of the target.

"Shit," Nick groaned and slapped his left paw to his forehead. "You're ambidextrous, aren't you?" he stated more than asked as he looked at a grinning Pix. "I would like to cancel the bet."

"Nope," Pix said mimicking the way Nick popped the 'p'.

"Eh… It was worth a shot." Nick shrugged and with that he picked up his own Glock that was sized for smaller mammals and check the chamber before switching it into his left paw and bringing it up and he pulled the trigger. His shots were spaced a bit further as he aimed a bit to bring his sights back on target after each shot. Pix had to admit that he was a bit impressed at the trigger discipline the red todd had and that he didn't flinch at all, made more remarkable since he knew for a fact that Nick wasn't ambidextrous. As the last round cleared the chamber and the slide locked back on his weapon Nick dropped the mag and checked the chamber like Pix had before setting the pistol down next to Pix's bigger M&P and sighed.

"That was actually really impressive, Nick," Pix said looking down range and nodded. "Nice grouping."

"Yeah…" Nick sighed again. "But not nice enough," he said as he hit the button on the electronic pulley system to bring both targets back to the benches. He looked at Pix's and then at his. They were almost identical except there were three holes right on the line of the 'head shot' target, and while in a scoring match they still would have counted, in this scenario Pix was the clear winner.

"Shit."

The cheetah put a paw on the vulpine's shoulder and said, "Tell you what? I'll just show the picture to a few friends, ok?"

"Does that mean I don't have to take the taser?"

The cheetah shrugged. "Well, you can't welch on your own bet, can you?" Pix said apologetically.

Nick just hung his head in mock shame while Pix laughed. Suddenly the todd's features lit up and he snickered. This caused Pix to immediately stop laughing and stare at the red fox.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Nick said with a smile as he looked at the clock on the wall. "The ZPA Cadets will be here soon. I suppose you should head down to your station," he added as he dismissively waved the larger predator away. "I'm going to get some coffee. I know you want some since you're like me and live on the stuff. I'll be back in a minute, if they show up just let them know I'll be here soon."

Pix watched as the door closed behind the red fox and was a bit confused and a bit worried at the same time.


End file.
